Interview with Patricia González

What is Kubota's role in the olive grove and olive oil sector?

Kubota is positioned as the most complete and leading brand for olive growing, with specific tractors for both traditional and super-intensive olive groves, as well as having the most complete range of implements and sprayers.

With more than 130 years of existence and currently with 28 dealers in Spain, the company counts on the excellence of its services and products as its greatest market differential.
Kubota has a wide range of tractors, implements and sprayers perfect for every type of olive plantation. For the traditional olive grove, Kubota has tractors that stand out for their great manoeuvrability, comfort and power and for the new super-intensive plantations, Kubota offers its new M5002 Narrow Series that stands out for its capacity to do very demanding work with maximum performance, while under constant effort, offering greater comfort and ease of use to the farmer.

The new Kubota Sprayers, has recently added to its range of implements a wide variety of sprayer wagons, as well as its spraying and precision farming technology. With this marvel of sprayers, Kubota is positioned as the most complete and leading brand for high value crops such as olive groves, almond trees, fruit trees and vineyards.

Among Kubota's more specific tractors for olive orchards is the Kubota M5-112 LP designed to provide the versatility of a low profile combined with the capabilities of a large tractor. The special low-profile design with a sloping bonnet and protective, specially designed mudguards to reduce crop damage make the tractor ideally suited to sites with height restrictions, tight turns and unevenness such as traditional olive orchards.

Impressively powerful, the M5-112 LP effortlessly masters even the most demanding jobs. One of the secrets of its success is its efficient engine, the result of Kubota's high innovative power and renowned engine expertise. With electro-hydraulic reverse shuttle, 18 forward and 18 reverse gears, the M5002 LP has a transmission perfectly suited for all kinds of work under the tree canopy. In addition, it features the unique "Bi-Speed" turning system, which not only reduces the turning radius by increasing the turning speed of the front wheels, but also helps to maintain stability when manoeuvring on steep slopes.

But that's not all Kubota has to offer, with the recent addition of the M6002 Series with a maximum power output of 143 hp and the manoeuvrability of one of the most popular tractors in Spanish olive orchards, the Kubota M5 Series.

What tools does Kubota offer farmers to achieve profitability in olive groves?

At Kubota, we are constantly working to ensure that our customers obtain maximum profitability in their work, achieving the highest degree of satisfaction and obtaining the greatest working capacity from our tractors.

To achieve this, we have a variety of solutions. Our most representative emblem, "Siempre Contigo", seeks to maintain and strengthen the relationship with our customers. To this end, all our tractors are covered by a warranty of 5 years or up to 5,000 hours*, with no excess, no insurance companies and a guarantee of a level playing field in both the standard and extended periods. In this way, our customers have the peace of mind of having a brand like Kubota backing their unit for a large part of its life.

In addition to the extended warranty, through the Kubota Protect+ solution, our dealers offer customers the possibility to purchase a maintenance contract for the same duration as the extended warranty. In this way, our customers are fully supported and can devote themselves exclusively to the work and reduce the downtime of the unit by being able to schedule the maintenance.

For several years now, Kubota Spain has also been offering the "Profi-check "* campaign (check availability), which consists of additional preventive maintenance, ideal for preparing the tractor for the campaign and obtaining maximum performance.

But Kubota is not a company that stays in the present, but seeks to offer increasingly technological solutions. For this purpose, we have remote assistance applications and we are immersed in the development of telemetry systems for the whole range of tractors.

In terms of innovation, what are the latest developments in agricultural machinery in the olive sector?

Kubota has been investing heavily in technology and companies that add value to the day-to-day life of the farmer, the two main examples being the purchase of the Fede sprayers that we now call Pulverizadores Kubota and the collaborative research agreement in the field of smart farming with TOPCON.

In 2022 Kubota has introduced its new advanced technology sprayers for special crops, for effective and efficient crop protection treatments against pests and diseases. These six new series of sprayer models significantly expand Kubota's range of specialty crop products.

Kubota Specialty Crop Sprayers are designed for high quality, precise and sustainable applications, tailored to the requirements of each specific crop. Among the six model series available (XTA21, XTA22, XTA24, XTA31, XTA33, XTA63) there are suitable options to cover crop protection tasks in fruit, citrus, nuts, vineyards and olive groves.

This reliable equipment stands out for its robustness, safety and durability of its mechanics, as well as the incorporation of the latest advances in technologies applied to special crops. The sprayers' exclusive air group (Qi) provides homogeneous coverage while reducing fuel consumption, which can provide savings of up to 4l/h of fuel. The sprayer components have been developed to avoid mechanical problems and enable higher productivity.

All Kubota speciality crop sprayers can be equipped with H3O technology for optimal digitisation of treatments. Thanks to the H3O technology, the sprayers are intelligently connected for precise applications depending on the volume of vegetation. The precision of the Kubota H3O specialty crop sprayers enables a drift reduction of up to 50% and a reduction in pesticide use of up to 25%.

Kubota's specialty crop sprayers equipped with H3O technology are managed through an intuitive and easy-to-use digital agronomic management platform where treatments can be set up and sent directly to the operator in the field. The work order is easily displayed on an interface for the sprayer to adjust automatically. In addition, the user receives proactive warnings during the job (speed, nozzle status, application volume...) to avoid errors. Once the treatment is finished, all the data is available on the digital platform to monitor the spray treatments carried out and provide real traceability. This data is valuable information that helps users to make better agronomic and commercial decisions.

Already in 2021, Kubota and Topcon have signed a collaborative research agreement in the field of smart farming. The two companies are working together to innovate for future commercialisation through collaborative research in the field of smart farming, bringing together the technologies and expertise developed by each company.

As global demand for food continues to rise and labour shortages at production sites remain a concern, so too do expectations for smart farming that aims to improve labour efficiency and productivity.

Kubota has been providing products and services for farm workers around the world for many years, while Topcon has promoted the automation of farming operations through automated steering, crop analysis technologies and DX solutions. Both companies, each with their own technical expertise, work in partnership to advance research and development in smart farming in a wide range of fields including agronomic data collection and management using various sensors, and solutions for productivity enhancement through automation using big data, and the like.

What does this congress mean for a company like Kubota?

Kubota's vision for agriculture is determined by our commitment to farmers and state-of-the-art technology.

Kubota is a company that understands farmers well and has the products, services and extensive dealer network to ensure excellence. Surely we, as a Japanese brand with more than 130 years, together with the experience and knowledge of all those involved, can guarantee an excellent and sustainable future of the sector for Spain and the world.

We know that the olive oil sector is constantly growing nationally and globally and Spain as one of the main producers and exporters in the world will always count on Kubota as an ally.

Kubota encourages open innovation, which will strengthen collaboration with partners outside the company, from start-ups to universities and research institutions. There are many partners around the world with advanced technologies that will have a huge impact on the future. We will combine our expertise and technology with their cutting-edge technologies to pioneer the development of solutions and businesses that address the problems that are likely to arise.

Kubota has always stood by farmers and developed its technology to solve the problems they faced. This is how it has brought together the best food production technology in the industry and an original ICT system. The next generation of machinery will realise the future of farming that Kubota imagines.